This month Lauren sat down with Kevin O'Connell with Ripple Foods. Ripple Foods offers a nutritious & delicious milk alternative that is 100% dairy-free, vegan, nut-, lactose- & gluten-free. Ripple is dedicated to changing the standard of what plant-based foods can be.
When you choose Ripple, you are creating positive impacts that ripple through our world. As a Certified B corp, they are dedicated to building their business as a force for good.
Find a store near you that carries Ripple here!
LAUREN: [00:00:02] Hello and welcome back to Enterprise Coworking Community Spotlight. This month we are sitting down with Kevin O'Connell with Ripple Foods. Kevin, thank you so much for sitting down with me today.
KEVIN: [00:00:14] No worries. Glad to be here.
LAUREN: [00:00:16] Awesome. So let's get into it. Why don't you tell us a little bit about Ripple and what you guys do?
KEVIN: [00:00:21] Okay, so Ripple, um, we sell a plant based beverage, so, it's chock full of protein. You can find it in any grocery store. It's different from other things you find on the shelves. So there's lots of almond milk and soy milk. Ripple doesn't have any of those allergens. So we're made from the humble yellow pea, the split yellow pea. Most of that's grown kind of in the upper Midwest, um, in Canada, Saskatchewan and, you know, kind of. So all picture of the whole big upper Midwest. Um, so it's a rich source of protein, and we pull that out, we make a nice beverage. Um, so it's got none of the allergens a lot of the nut milks have, and it has a lot of protein. Um, we found a lot of kids, uh, drink our product for nutrition. So that's been kind of a centerpiece of our business success. Um, but that's it. We're in the we're in the beverage business, and we make, um, we make milk both refrigerated and shelf stable. And we also have some nutritional shakes out there. Um, and we've got, uh, half and half if you need to cream your coffee or do some vegan baking. So those are all the products that we have right now.
LAUREN: [00:01:24] Oh, nice. Nice. That's very cool. How long have you guys been in business?
KEVIN: [00:01:30] You know, we're approaching in a couple of weeks we'll have the eighth anniversary of our first bottle sold. So, you know, mid 2016 was when the first bottle was, uh, was sold. There were people hanging around trying to make things happen. About a year before that. Um, I came on the end of 2016. So we'd only been on, uh, been on shelf a couple of months. Um, so I wasn't involved in the actual startup, but I, you know, I'm kind of an old timer in terms of ripple, uh, these days. So.
LAUREN: [00:01:56] Awesome. Yeah, that's a long time. So what makes ripple different from other companies in your field? You kind of touched on that a little bit, but.
KEVIN: [00:02:04] Well, another thing is that we're a certified B Corp. So, um, you know, it's Ripple Foods PBC, which stands for Public Benefit Corporation. So our board of directors has a fiduciary responsibility not just for the financials but for the health of the environment, um, in our community and our employees. So that's kind of cool. It feels pretty good to be a part of that. Um, and then and from just the product point of view, it's really the presence of that protein, because a lot of people think that almond milk has a lot of protein. It just doesn't, um, soy milk actually has some protein, except it just doesn't taste that good or tend not to taste that good. Um, so the protein and the rest of the nutritional value is, is sort of what sets the product apart. Um, one of the taglines used to be dairy free, as it should be. And that's really it implies it has all the nutritional qualities of a dairy product. It just is a non is a non-dairy. So um, so I think that's what makes it unique in the, you know, in the, in the, the, in the grocery store.
LAUREN: [00:03:05] Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. This one's a fun little question. Why did you guys choose enterprise co-working?
KEVIN: [00:03:13] Well, we chose, you know, we had been when we started, we had the whole sales and marketing group was built in in Denver. And so we had a lot of employees and we had an office, um, an office in RiNo. And through the pandemic and some other things, as we had turned and we were much more remote. Um, we, you know, didn't need as many people in Denver so as people who were all focused in Denver left. We replaced them with people from anywhere. So we ended up with now just a handful of folks in Denver. So we needed more flexibility. Um, you know, in a smaller space. But the the location was still pretty convenient, um, for us. So it's it's been it's been really easy. And it added benefit. I didn't learn until after I started, but the architectural firm my daughter works for, uh, designed, um, designed the enterprise space or did the remodel, um, to make this, you know, uh, back in the day.
LAUREN: [00:04:03] I didn't even know that. That's so cool. What a small world. Yeah. We love having you guys here in the building. Um, last question. Speaking to our viewers, is there anything else that you would like them to know about ripple, about you? About whatever.
KEVIN: [00:04:19] Um, let's see about, uh, about me specifically. Uh, no, I think we're we're friendly folk. We sit there in the corner. Um, we're usually we usually congregate on Wednesdays, but a couple of us come in a couple other days a week. So, um, it's sometimes looks dark, but, um, you'll you'll find us there, and we'll be there. And, um, if you stop in and say hi, I'm sure that Shannon or me or Haley, if we're there, can, uh, you know, can find a coupon or two. So if you haven't tried the product, you you can. So, you know, uh, knock and say hello.
LAUREN: [00:04:53] Awesome. Yeah. Swing by that office and get a little coupon and try it. The milk. It sounds really good. I need to try it.
KEVIN: [00:05:02] That's that's what the. This is the one that happens to be in my refrigerator. That's the unsweetened version, which is kind of one of our most popular products. Um, the chocolates. What I recommend most, that one's really tasty. And then we have a line for kids. This is the Ripple Kids. This is actually the single serve package. I'm sorry, I'm blurring it, but, um. That's the The one for kids, which has a bunch of other things for your your kids too. So it's got like DHA and choline and, um, you know, it boosts up some of the nutrients for, uh, for kids and again, all allergen free.
LAUREN: [00:05:35] So yeah, that's very important for kids. That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, Kevin, thank you so much for sitting down with us. Um, and telling us a little bit about Ripple. Everybody go check them out in the grocery store. You can also check them out at Ripple foods.com.
KEVIN: [00:05:54] All right. Thanks a lot.
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